


give it your all or give up entirely.

by agaytoremembr



Series: sterling!verse [10]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: M/M, also, and how his hero complex still affects him, because this is my verse and in it I am god, honestly, i just really wanted to write Diego angst, its going to comply with the canon that I want it to, sterling verse is back babey!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25658566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agaytoremembr/pseuds/agaytoremembr
Summary: In hindsight, from the front of their family friendly SUV, with the side of his head pressed against the cool glass of the passenger seat, Diego could perfectly well realize that he hadn’t even thought about whether he still had friends on the force when he got that familiar itch to go out and play the hero. And that lack of thought landed him in holding, using his one phone call to bother his brother who would understand the need for discretion.
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves/OMC
Series: sterling!verse [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1322618
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	give it your all or give up entirely.

**Author's Note:**

> Diego and Sterling have kids now! Crissy is Sterling’s middle sister, and she was surrogate for them in order for them to have the twins. 
> 
> Yes, Benny after Ben and Gracie after Grace. The sterling verse discord is sentimental.

The thing was, Diego hadn’t been arrested since before the twins were born. He hadn’t even been out doing the vigilante thing for years, because he had the kids to worry about and that side gig teaching boxing at the gym to beginners, and honestly, the itch to dress up and go Batman around the city had really diminished. Now, it usually only roared its ugly head when he was feeling overwhelmed or upset.

What he should have realized before was that a lot changes over the years. In the three years since they’d found out they were going to be fathers, a lot had changed, more than Diego realized until he heard the familiar siren and instead of meeting a familiar face, he was shoved up against a brick wall and mirandized.

In hindsight, from the front of their family friendly SUV, with the side of his head pressed against the cool glass of the passenger seat, Diego could perfectly well realize that he hadn’t even thought about whether he still had friends on the force when he got that familiar itch to go out and play the hero. And that lack of thought landed him in holding, using his one phone call to bother his brother who would understand the need for discretion.

Or so he thought.

Instead, nearly a half hour later, none other than Sterling himself walked into the precinct and bailed Diego’s sorry ass out of jail. Klaus must have called him instead, the traitor.

Diego could still see Sterling’s clenched jaw, muscles working with the effort to keep it firmly closed. He wanted to apologize, to grovel, but experience told him that was a terrible plan. When Sterling was this angry, it was always best to just wait until he spoke first.

Diego wasn’t worried when they walked in their front door without a word being spoken- he had fucked up spectacularly, this deserved a level of silent treatment- and he wasn’t worried when he saw Crissy sitting up waiting for them.

It was when he saw Gracie leaning against the chair, Benny curled up in Crissy’s lap, and the three bags casually laying by the front door that the panic crawled up Diego’s throat and threatened to choke him.

He whipped around to face Sterling and wondered how he missed the stony expression on his face. “Baby, please,” he whispered, desperate to keep his family together. He couldn’t… they couldn’t… “Plateado, don’t, please. I can fix this, we can work it out.”

Sterling sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Cris, can you take the kids out to the car?” ‘So they won’t have to hear this’ was unspoken but loud and clear all the same.

Diego’s eyes burned with sudden tears as he turned again, reaching for Crissy’s arm. The look on her face was familiar and he knew he was about five seconds from getting his ass handed to him, but he couldn’t… he needed.. “Just let me tell them goodbye,” he pleaded, his grip loosening on her wrist. “Please, Cris.”

Crissy’s face softened, but she looked over Diego’s shoulder for permission. Diego wilted. He was who he never wanted to be. He couldn’t even be trusted with his own children.

Sterling’s voice was soft. “It’s okay, Crissy.” And a little louder, in a falsely bright voice that hurt Diego’s heart, “Say bye bye to Daddy, guys. We’re gonna go stay with Auntie Annie for a little bit, and Daddy’s gonna stay here.”

Benny was curled up on Crissy’s chest and he took the transfer of arms easily, nuzzling into the crook of Diego’s neck. His little body ? easily, trusting his father completely to keep him safe and sound. Diego felt the press of tears as he pressed kisses to his son’s downy hair. “Love you, baby,” he whispered, squeezing him tight. “So much.”

Crissy took the sleeping toddler back without a word, and Gracie stepped forward, raising her little arms as imperiously as ever, even when she was still half asleep. Diego wanted to cry as he obeyed his bossy, feral, beautiful, wonderful little girl, lifting her into his arms and holding her tight.

Gracie gave him three sloppy kisses to his jaw and cheek, already wriggling her way out of the right hold. She reached up and patted his cheek clumsily. “Bye bye, Daddiego,” she mumbled, “see you ‘morrow.”

Diego hid his face in her riotous hair, blinking tears away. “Bye, baby. Love you.” It took Crissy clearing her throat for him to finally put her down, where she placed her hand into her auntie’s without complaint.

Crissy looked ready to leave, but stopped, leveling him with a look. “I didn’t go through the pain of double childbirth for you to fuck up your family, Hargreeves. So get your shit together before you don’t have anything left.”

Sterling cleared his throat, his frown distinctly disapproving. “Cristine,” he said warningly, and whether that was for what she said or for cursing in front of Gracie, Diego was unsure.

Crissy rolled her eyes. “Whatever, little brother.” To the kids, her voice was a little more cheery. “Come on, monsters, I bet Aunt Anne has your cool blanket fort still up from the last time you visited.”

The soft ‘snick’ of the closed door might as well have been a roar to Diego’s ears. He’d fucked up so badly Sterling took their kids away. How could he redeem himself?

His expression must have asked that for him- he was always a little too easy for Sterling to read- because his husband sighed heavily, his eyes sad. “We can’t keep doin’ this, Diego.”

This, this lack of fight, was so much worse than the anger Diego had been expecting. “This hasn’t happened in years, what do you mean?”

Sterling’s lips twitched up into a humorless smile. “You’ve gotten better, I’ll admit.” He fell into a chair, scrubbing a hand over his face. He looked tired in a way that had nothing to do with the time of night. “When we met… it was excitin’, I think. You bein’ a hero. And even when it worried me, it wasn’t really an issue so much, ’cause it was just us, y’know? We could handle a couple arrests just fine.”

Sterling shook his head, his fingers clenching and unclenching in a way that made Diego think he was wishing for some booze to make this go easier. “We have kids now, Diego. You can’t keep doing this.”

Diego blinked. “I know that.”

Sterling barked out a laugh. “See, I don’t think you do. ‘Cause you still throw caution to the wind just to be this fantasy hero. And y’know what? If it was a genuine desire to help people, I think I could work with that. Really. But that isn’t it, Diego.” Sterling’s voice broke, his eyes shining with tears. “You keep doin’ this when you get upset or insecure to prove something to that long-dead asshole who raised you.

“You been doin’ so well, but there’s always slips. I can tell when you slip out of bed, when your outfit’s been messed with. I don’t say anythin’ because I know it helps you somehow. But gettin’ arrested again? There’s maybe one or two cops left on that squad that know you, and even they agree you’re gettin’ old to be playin’ hero.”

Diego couldn’t hear over the sound of his heart beating, hammering hard against his chest. “I don’t need to be a hero!”

Sterling raised an eyebrow. “One word: JFK. You got yourself locked in a 60s insane asylum, D, just on the off chance you would be able to save Kennedy. And baby? Even if you had… no one would have ever known. The future would have changed, that pride that you keep seeking…” he scrubbed his eyes furiously, glaring at Diego. “You already fuckin’ have it, you goddamn moron of a man. Me, an’ Gracie and Benny- hell, your whole family- we are so fuckin’ proud of you. But it means nothin’ to you. So you seek it from saving strangers, at the cost of your own family.”

Diego’s head was reeling- he couldn’t formulate a response, or even just his own thoughts.

Sterling didn’t give him a chance to figure it out, standing up and lumbering over to him. He took Diego’s face in his hands, thumb brushing over his lower lip. “Diego Hargreeves, I love you more than life itself, and I always will.” He almost smiled, and for a minute, Diego stupidly let himself think he was about to be kissed. But Sterling’s expression hardened, and he stepped back. “I love you, but I love our family more. I need to know you do, too. So we’re gonna crash at Anne’s for a while, until you figure your shit out.” He have a tiny, crooked smile that usually made Diego’s heart melt. “For what it’s worth, sweetheart? I really fuckin’ hope you do.”

**Author's Note:**

> You know how toddlers hear people call their parents by their names and start calling them that? Well, Gracie modified that by calling him ‘daddiego’. It sticks. 
> 
> Comments add ten years to my life, help me live long enough to see season three!


End file.
